


(don't) let your head down

by allofspace



Category: Salvation (TV)
Genre: 1x05, Canon Compliant, Fear of Flying, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Whump, darius worries about liam a lot, hand holding, starts at the end of 1x05 when liam got kidnapped
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-10-14 08:37:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17505251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allofspace/pseuds/allofspace
Summary: Takes place at the end of 1x05 where Liam was kidnapped and continues with the events of 1x06 but slightly altered.





	(don't) let your head down

**Author's Note:**

> Hey so I'm super late to this show and new to the fandom but i love ship a lot and I haven't even finished season 1 so... yeah. I hope someone out there enjoys x)
> 
> Can you believe the Strumbellas wrote a song about liam and darius called Salvation? Crazy. Anyway I stole the title from those lyrics (it was so hard to pick just one line omg).

“Liam, thank God you’re okay.”

The words barely make it through. Liam’s ears are buzzing and everything somehow feels blurry. Darius’ voice does get through though, and suddenly it’s like Liam is rising out of water, everything becoming less muffled. There’s a hand on his shoulder. A hand that belongs to Darius. They’re alone in the back of one of those military vehicles that had surrounded Liam moments ago. Moments… or minutes... or hours for all Liam can tell. He looks out the window, but it’s dark, so he looks at Darius instead. 

“I’m sorry about Croft,” Darius says, softer than Liam has ever heard him. The words twist like a knife though. Liam’s hands clench and he is inevitably reminded of his mentor’s blood on them, figuratively and so very literally. Darius pulls him closer, toward his chest, the hand on Liam’s shoulder clutching him a little too tightly but Liam doesn’t actually mind. It grounds him a little more. He looks up toward the front seats of the vehicle and there’s just the driver. Eyes flitting away in the rear view mirror as Liam looks toward it. He can’t help but wonder if this is someone Darius knows. If maybe Darius doesn’t care that this might look a little weird. He decides he doesn’t care and instead closes his eyes, tucks his head under Darius’ chin and lets his heart beat penetrate his brain, distracting him from any other thoughts. 

“Where are we?” Liam says. He just woke up, doesn’t even know how he managed to doze off but is glad that he could. He lifts his head and realizes it had been cradled in Darius’ lap. His cheeks start to burn a little but Darius says nothing about it. 

“My place,” is all he replies. “I don’t think you should go home just yet.”

Liam just nods. He wants his apartment, his bed, but he can’t really find it in him to argue. His side hurts and he wonders if maybe he should be going to a hospital. 

“I have in-house medical staff that’ll take a look at you in the morning,” Darius says, as if reading Liam’s mind. “Were you hit in the head at all? Do we have to worry about a concussion?”

Liam just shakes his head. The vehicle’s door is opened for them and Darius ushers him out into the cold night. The air feels revitalizing, and he takes a deep breath. He feels, for a moment, that maybe he won’t be able to sleep at all. The air feels so good. But then his knees are buckling and Darius is grabbing him awkwardly, throwing Liam’s arm around his shoulder and Liam doesn’t remember much after that. 

~+~+~

Liam wakes up confused. His surroundings are unfamiliar even before he opens his eyes. The expensive-feeling silk sheets completely foreign to him. He manages to open his eyes and as he moves a little, feels what must be a nasty bruise on his ribs. Everything from the night before comes rushing back. The Russians, the EM drive... Croft. And Darius. A surprising side of Darius that Liam hopes doesn’t disappear.

Liam has seen most of Darius’ compound at this point and has been in the Treehouse several times, but never his actual bedroom, which is where Liam figures he is right now. The aesthetic matches with the rest of the Treehouse, but he can’t see much with blinds blocking out most of the daylight still. He rises and groans at his sore muscles. The blinds make a soft clicking sound and open slightly. 

“Thanks Tess,” Liam says to the computer. 

There’s a tap at the door and before Liam can even reply, Darius is already opening the door. Liam is suddenly aware that he’s in just his boxers and tries to pull some covers over his body, suddenly self-conscious. Though he does briefly wonder how he came to this state of undress...

“Oh good, you’re up,” Darius says. His usual bravado is back as though none of this is out of the ordinary. “Hope you don’t mind, I took the liberty of getting your clothes cleaned to get the blood out.” There’s a slip in Darius’ facade at the end of his sentence, though Liam is unsure why he has one at all. 

“Thank you,” Liam replies. He’s not sure what else to add and Darius is watching him from the doorway in silence for what begins to feel like too long. “Uh, I should really tell Jillian something —“ 

“Not to worry,” Darius says brightly. His composure is back again. “I sent her a message last night that you were okay, you were away on work but that you’re back in the office catching up on a few things with me.” 

“Oh,” Liam says surprised. “Okay. Thanks.” There’s a slight pulsing in his head that will probably turn into a headache. He pushes his palm into his eye.

“Are you alright?” Darius says with concern. He takes a step closer and Liam almost laughs at the mother hen instincts. He never expected to see this side of Darius. But Liam can’t laugh because the look on Darius’ face is pure worry and it makes Liam’s heart jump a little at the sincerity. 

“Yeah. I’m fine, really. Just a headache.”

“The medical team is on standby. I thought I’d give you a chance to have some breakfast and a shower first.”

“Breakfast?” Liam asks hopefully. Only when he heard the word did he suddenly feel the growing hunger in his stomach. 

Darius smiles softly then holds his finger up as if to say “one second” and slips back out the door. When he re-enters, he wheels in a cart that reminds Liam of a room service cart from a hotel, not that Liam has ever experienced that first-hand. 

His mouth opens in shock looking at the wide array of foods on the cart, plus there’s water, coffee and juice on the lower section. He takes a bottle of water and gulps it down, which eases some of the pain in his head. He was probably a little dehydrated. 

“Thanks, this is amazing.” Liam looks up at Darius, but Darius seems to be inspecting him. Liam has to fight the urge to pull the sheets up further around him.

“Your ribs,” Darius says quietly. It reminds Liam of the car ride last night. The soft voice he’d never heard from Darius before. Liam watches Darius carefully as he watches Liam. Darius reaches out a hand, then pulls it back without making contact. “Tess,” Darius says, sudden and loud, breaking the moment. “Call the doctors. Have them be here in 20.” Then he turns to leave. “Eat up. Shower. Your clothes are in the bathroom along with towels and anything else you might need. Don’t worry about keeping the doctors waiting. Just come out when you’re ready.”

Liam does take a little longer than the 20 minutes but it’s not really his fault. Darius’ shower was absolutely amazing with way too many showerheads and pressure controls and temperature knobs. He eats a croissant and some fruit before realizing his eyes had been bigger than his stomach. When he leaves the bedroom, Darius is offering the two doctors some tea.

“Ah, Liam, there you are,” Darius says, not waiting for the doctors’ responses to his offering. He walks over to Liam and then ushers him to a seat on one of the benches in the middle of the room. Liam feels almost embarrassed the way Darius is treating him. Liam doesn’t miss the raised eyebrows of the doctors, though Darius seems to be oblivious. 

They get to work, flashing lights into Liam’s eyes and inspecting his ribs, tapping him in painful places. When all is done, they tell him his ribs aren’t broken and there’s no signs of internal bleeding. He doesn’t have a concussion or any other major issues. Liam feels silly for having them check at all now.

“Thank you very much for coming,” Darius says as he escorts the doctors out of the Treehouse. 

Liam stands, feeling like he’s definitely overstayed his welcome at this point. Plus, now that the Russians had the EM drive, he didn’t know what their next move would be. There was a lot of work to do.

“So what do we do now?” Liam asks. “I mean the Russians have the prototype but I could build the full scale without it.”

“Liam,” Darius says, coming over to stand in front of him. “You don’t have to worry about that right now. We have a meeting with the pentagon shortly but...” He seems unsure of what to say next. Liam has never seen Darius unsure of anything. “I just want to make sure you’re okay,” Darius says. “You went through a lot last night. I just want you to know I’m here. If you need to talk or... anything really.”

Liam is a little shocked and he doesn’t really know what to say. Lots of people have offered him comfort in life, but so much of it feels empty. “I’m here if you need to talk” never really seems sincere coming from most people. Except it seems so sincere from Darius that Liam has no idea what to do with it. He’s idolized Darius for so long, and working with him has been like a dream. Croft actually helped Liam see Darius as more human. It still just felt unreal that Liam Cole was someone that Darius Tanz cared about in any sort of way. 

“I’m good,” Liam finally says. The words are harder to say than he expected, mouth and throat suddenly dry. “I just want to focus on work.” He figures thats what Darius wants to hear anyway and its mostly true. While his offer seems sincere, Liam is hesitant to take him up on it. He tells himself it’s because he’s imagining the sincerity there. He’s probably mistaking it for something else. But he can’t help but see the disappointment in Darius’ face for a brief moment before it’s gone. 

“Of course, lets get a move on, then.” Darius is chipper once again and although it’s how Darius usually acts, it’s different now. It’s like Liam knows that it’s not the real Darius. He’s seen what’s underneath and everything else doesn’t seem as interesting. He smiled to himself and follows Darius out of the building. 

The meeting doesn’t go well, the government trying to cut ties with Tanz industries since the prototype was stolen. 

Liam and Darius are headed to London but not before Liam finds Jillian to let her know he’s okay in person. They find a quiet area to talk in and Liam realizes he can’t tell her anything. 

“I’m okay, see?” he tells her.

She’s angry anyway, but still tries to pull him into a hug. He winces away and she lifts up his shirt to see the bruise before he can stop her. 

“What the hell, Liam?”

He can’t help the anger that bubbles up in him. He just wants someone to comfort him and to not always have to explain himself. He has all these heavy secrets weighing in his conscious and he knows it’s not Jillian’s fault that she can’t help because he can’t tell her, but it still sucks. He doesn’t mean to yell at her but he does and she storms off. He feels bad for yelling but not for how he feels. It was a mistake for Darius to bring her here.

Liam buckles in for the long plane ride. Lift-off is the worst part, but even being up in the air is bad. Just looking out the window and remembering how high up they are is enough to have his head spinning. Darius is sitting across from him, computer open on the table between them. 

Liam is squeezing his eyes tightly closed during a small patch of turbulence and when it’s over he softens them and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes, Darius is watching him carefully. The concerned look that Liam is quickly getting used to in the sense that it’s often reoccurring but not in the way it makes him catch his breath. To have all of Darius Tanz’s attention is something that’s hard to put into words but it has a palpable feeling to it and Liam can feel the weight against his chest like a g-force. It almost makes him dizzy. 

“I’m okay,” he says to break the spell. 

Darius blinks as if he hadn’t even noticed what he was doing or he was too concentrated to notice that Liam had been watching him curiously. Darius offers a small smile. “Of course you are. I would offer you Gravol but I can’t have you falling asleep. Or alcohol but again, I need your mind sharp.”

“It’s ok. I’ll be fine. Maybe just... talk to me?”

Darius looks intrigued at the proposition. “What about?” 

“Anything,” Liam sighs. “What’s your uncle like?”

Darius rolls his eyes. “Nothing to write home about. He paid my way through MIT and I’ve been a constant disappoint. He thinks I owe him everything when I don’t believe I owe him anything.”

“Woah,” Liam says, eyes wide. He can’t imagine anyone thinking of Darius as a disappointment. 

“I grew up without a father figure,” Liam starts. “That’s why... Croft,” he says, but doesn’t know how to explain. Or doesn’t know if he can get through it. 

Darius just nods in encouragement. The worried stare is back, the intensity making Liam’s cheeks heat up. 

“Before I shot him,” Liam says, almost choking on the words. “He said I was like a son to him.”

Liam’s fingers are nervously tapping on the table. Darius’s hand covers them suddenly. Liam can’t help but look toward it in shock. Darius doesn’t pull away and instead keeps talking, so Liam lets their eyes meet. 

“He may have been like a father to you, and maybe it really did feel reciprocated to him. But those words were meant to manipulate you.” Darius squeezes Liam’s hand a little tighter. He still doesn’t let go. Liam’s heart is beating an awful rhythm and he hopes Darius can’t tell. He’s not sure what’s happening or what’s changed between them but he can’t help but find it exhilarating. 

He just nods. He wants to continue talking, not wanting to give Darius a reason to let go. “I’ve never shot a gun before,” Liam says. “And now I’ve killed two people.” He says it quietly, looking away from Darius and back. The other man’s gaze hasn’t wavered. It strengthens Liam in a way now. It enforces the sincerity in his offer for Liam to talk to him whenever he needs to and it’s freeing. Overwhelmingly so.

In a brazen move, he adjusts his hand slightly, so that Liam can squeeze Darius’s hand back, instead of his just covering Liam’s hand. It’s the first time Liam sees another new expression across Darius’s face. Liam doesn’t want to say it’s fear but maybe... hesitation. Vulnerability. It’s the first time Darius breaks eye contact.

“Thanks,” Liam says quietly, not wanting to ruin whatever this moment is. He doesn’t want to make too much of it but he can’t help but feel something shift. “For listening.”

Darius just nods, looking back up at Liam. “Any time. I mean it,” he says. He squeezes Liam’s hand once more before taking his away. Liam’s hand seems frozen and he drags it back into his lap, cradling it like it’s been burned.

Darius clears his throat and quickly turns the conversation into shop-talk, asking Liam to explain some discrepancies in their data for scaling up the EM drive. Liam loves his work, so it’s easy to switch gears, but it also gives him an excuse to switch seats, moving beside Darius so they can both look at the screen at the same time. 

Liam’s skin seems to buzz with the excitement of proximity, like there’s an electrical current running through him. He hopes he’s not pushing his luck, but he feels the need to test these new and unexplored boundaries. He doesn’t want to accidentally push Darius away with trying to get closer, but he suddenly feels a magnetism that he hadn’t noticed before. Except that’s not exactly true if he really thinks about it. He’d been interested in Tanz Industries since it’s inception and everyone Liam knew had at least a little bit of a crush on Darius Tanz. Liam just considered himself extremely lucky to even have met Darius, let alone start working with him and be a part of his inner circle. 

Liam is explaining something on the screen to Darius and when he looks over, Darius is watching him intently again. Liam wishes he could know what Darius was thinking most of the time, but especially when he has this look in his eyes. Darius doesn’t let his gaze stay for long once Liam notices. The pilots voice breaks through an intercom to let them know they’ll be landing shortly. Liam can’t believe that he’s actually wishing to stay on the plane longer. But the idea of landing has his stomach turning already. He’s about to go back to his seat across from Darius but Darius stops him. “Stay,” he says, putting his hand out, palm up. Offering it to Liam. “It’ll help with the landing. Just squeeze as hard as you need.”

The man never ceases to surprise Liam and while Liam has always cursed his fear of flying, he’s almost thankful for it now. He closes his eyes as they start to descend and he focuses on the feeling of his hand on Darius’ and it’s a welcome distraction that’s working. Until they hit the runway shakily and Liam has to grit his teeth and squeezes Darius’ hand tightly. 

Once it’s over, Darius pulls his hand away and shakes it. “You’re stronger than you look you know,” he says playfully. 

Liam smiles sheepishly. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Darius replies, softer. “Now, down to business.”

Darius’ uncle was nothing like Liam could have imagined. And the way he talked to Darius made Liam want to punch him. So when he wouldn’t give them the meteorite, Liam was pleased when Darius told him the plan to sneak back in and steal some with Harris’ help. 

It seemed odd that Darius had made Liam even join him. Surely he could have gotten a tour of his uncles garage without Liam there. And that was apparently all he needed since the contact lens he was wearing did the rest. Still, Liam figures Darius must have had good reason. He is exhausted when they’re back on the plane. Another long ride ahead of them.

He gets seated first, shutting the blind on the window so he can’t see outside. Darius is discussing something with the pilot and then takes a seat beside Liam and Liam tries not to act surprised. Is this how they’ll be flying from now on? Darius doesn’t even say anything, just looks over his emails until the plane starts moving down the runway.

“For takeoff,” he says, putting out his hand. “Though please try your best not to break it. This is my writing hand.”

Liam laughs. “I’ll do my best. Besides, I think I’m starting to hate flying a little less.” He watches for a reaction in Darius, to see if he understands the not so subtle meaning. Darius just offers a small smile back and Liam takes the hand offered to him. He intertwines their fingers this time, his eyes already closed. Once the plane is up in the air and his terrified pulse settles back down, he can’t help but drift to sleep. 

~*~*~

Darius honest to god does not know how he got himself in this situation. 

Liam Cole, just a boy from Boston he recruited to help him save the world, will be the death of Darius.

Liam is currently asleep with his head on Darius’ shoulder and their hands are still intertwined though Liam’s grip has loosened. Darius could at least lie to himself about the hand-holding when it was to keep Liam calm during take-off and landing, but now here he is, unable to move. He tells himself it’s better that Liam get some sleep. That Darius would be rude to move and risk waking him. 

If he’s honest with himself, moving is the last thing he wants to do. He tries at least to focus on his tablet, catching up on pointless news in the world. Pointless unless their mission is successful. 

Darius had been doing so damn well keeping his mind focussed on work since hiring Liam. But Liam just had to go and have a traitorous mentor slash professor. Just had to go and get himself abducted by Russians. Darius had already lost Lazlo and wasn’t about to let one of the only other people important to him slip away. His heart had been racing the whole way until he finally had Liam in his sight. And then it was even worse. 

To see Liam standing there, hands raised, covered in blood. For a terrifying moment, he thought it was Liam’s own blood. It killed Darius to see Liam so hurt and scared and in shock. He knew what it was like to have a father figure disappoint you, though he’d never had to shoot one. 

Darius knew he had been indulging in selfishness, taking Liam back to the Treehouse like he did. But after so long of making sure to distance himself from the boy, he couldn’t let him out of his sight. At least for the night. Darius didn’t sleep that night. Mostly contemplating the complicated feelings brought up by almost losing Liam. Was there a point in burying his feelings if the world was going to end? Of course, that wasn’t the outcome they were working so hard for, but the looking end of humanity was putting some things into perspective for him. 

He knew why he stayed far away from these feelings. To protect himself, to stop another situation like losing Tess and how much he’d regretted that for so long. But maybe sometimes, it was worth the risk of the pain. He doesn’t know what he would have done if Liam had ended up dead, but he knows he would have regretted keeping him at such a distance. 

Seeing his uncle was no walk in the park. Not only did he not help them, which was no surprise. But he’d had the audacity to think he could still influence Darius at all.

“The boy seems brilliant,” his uncle had said.

“He is,” Darius replied, unable to stop his smile.

“He’s also a distraction.”

Darius had just sighed, hardening himself. Reminding himself how much better off he was without his uncle or any of his “help.” 

Liam was anything but a distraction. Sure, Darius continued working on the Ark as backup, but Liam was the one who had given him hope that they could save the world. Together. 

He looks at Liam now, who stirs slightly and adjusts his head on Darius’ shoulder. Darius can’t believe it’s comfortable but maybe the fact that’s he’s sleeping is a testament to how exhausted he is. He wishes he could just let Liam sleep for as long as he wants, but they do still have work to do. Though Darius’ mind seems to be racing, the exhaustion eventually catches up with him as well. He reclines both seats back a little so it’s a little less uncomfortable and soon he’s drifted off. 

“Darius,” Tess’ computer voice says from his tablet, waking him. “Liam is awake.”

Darius opens his eyes, feeling confused. Liam is also groggily stretching. Suddenly Darius remembers where he is and who he’s with and that Tess definitely wasn’t supposed to say that. 

“Why did she just say that?” Liam asks. His voice is husky with sleep and it does nothing to calm Darius. 

Darius laughs forcibly, his throat a little too tight. “Tess, turn off that notification please.”

“Notification turned off,” Tess replies. 

“Sorry,” Darius says to Liam now. “It was just for the other night. I had to leave the Treehouse for a bit and wanted to know when you’d awoken. You know, in case you had a concussion. Or amnesia or something. Didn’t want you to be too confused.” Darius shut himself up. His reply wasn’t at all cool or calm enough, he was just digging himself in deeper. 

Liam just smiled at him, a playful glint in his eye. “You didn’t put a chip in me did you?”

Darius laughs a little, forcing his way through the embarrassment. “No, just where Tess has sensors like the Treehouse or the plane or the labs, she can monitor lots of things.”

“Of course. That’s totally normal and not weird,” Liam says smiling.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I may be a bit eccentric.”

Liam’s eyebrows rose quickly in mock-surprise. “You don’t say. These things come in threes don’t they? Billionaire? Check. Genius? I guess. Eccentric? Definitely.” 

“You left out playboy and philanthropist,” Darius says.

Liam laughs loudly at that. “Please tell me you don’t equate yourself with Tony Stark.”

“Well now I’m definitely not showing you my army of robotic suits,” Darius says.

Liam just shakes his head, smiling. “I didn’t know people like you had time to watch movies.”

“We don’t. We just get them implanted in our brains so we can keep up with pop culture.” Darius smiles but Liam is watching him curiously. “I don’t make a habit of watching them, but everyone’s gotta have a little bit of fun from time to time.”

Liam just nods, a small smile on his face. 

It shouldn’t make Darius’ heart clench the way it does, to have these small exchanges. They seem intimate somehow. Darius supposes they are for him. He wonders, not for the first time, how he has let Liam get so close. Darius has never been one to trust quickly, but he came to trust Liam so deeply in such a short amount of time. 

“Sorry you were so worried about me,” Liam says seriously, breaking Darius away from his own thoughts. 

“Purely a matter of survival. The world would be lost without you,” Darius responds. He wants it to sound like a brush-off but it turns into something more sincere than he intended. “You are absolutely brilliant, Liam. I hope you know that.”

He hazards a glance at Liam, against his better judgement. The boy is watching him intensely, his eyes searching Darius’ face. Darius just stares back, wanting to reach out but doing everything he can to stop the impulse. He must be reading too much into all of this. Liam has Jillian. And yet, the other boy is leaning in closer, closing the already small distance between them. Darius doesn’t move. Doesn’t know if he should move closer or further away so he freezes. Liam moves ever so slowly, and Darius tells himself he just needs to /do/ something. Anything. But he can’t. So torn between what he wants and what he believes he should allow himself. 

Their mouths are close, Darius could just lean forward and...

Turbulence jostles them apart suddenly. 

“Perhaps I should go check with the pilot,” Darius says getting up.

Liam nods, looking slightly embarrassed. Darius wants to tell him not to be. Wants to tell him how badly he doesn’t want to leave, but Darius has never been good at this. 

Going to see the pilot is a bullshit excuse, he knows this, but he stays a while to ask some questions, which clearly annoys the pilot. When he returns to the cabin, he sits diagonal from Liam, picking up his tablet and getting Tess to run simulations and check in on things at work. He can feel Liam watching him but he refuses to meet his eyes. 

He can’t believe Liam wants the same thing as him. What if he has accidentally used his position of power to influence Liam? He was wrong to give in to his feelings in a moment of weakness. 

The flight goes by far too slowly for his liking but when they are finally landing, he doesn’t offer Liam his hand. Liam, however, takes it anyway.

“It’s the only thing that helps,” he says with a shrug and an innocent enough smile. 

Darius struggles to keep his composure neutral and indifferent. Once they’re off the plane, they head straight to the pentagon. Grace is waiting for them, as Darius had sent her a message ahead of time with the new plan. 

They meet with Harris and luckily he agrees to give them the man power for what they need to do. A heist for meteorite dust. 

“I’m going.” And surely Darius did not hear that right. 

“No way, Liam,” Harris responds quickly. Thankfully Darius needn’t step in then. He has no idea why Liam would want to be so self-sacrificial for no reason, but Darius doesn’t think he’d survive Liam going into another dangerous situation.

But Liam is talking again and though the words are getting fuzzy in his head, they’re making sense to Darius and it only frustrates him more. He wants to yell at Liam, tell him he can’t go. But he’s right and Darius has no faith in Harris or his men to properly extract what they need from the meteorite. 

_I can’t let you out of my reach again_ he wants to say, but holds it back, biting his tongue to hold back the words. Liam is looking at him, a daring look in his eye. A look of defiance. Is there some reason Liam would do this just to spite him? Did Darius do something wrong?

Everything was happening too quickly, and Darius couldn’t think of anything to stop this from happening. Maybe it would be fine, maybe Liam would be okay. But if he wasn’t... he’d be miles and miles away. A whole sea between them. 

Harris is already on the phone making calls and Darius pulls Liam into the far corner of the room. “Liam you don’t have to do this,” he says weakly. If it could only be so simple. 

“Yes I do. This is the last piece. We can’t let them ruin our chance at saving humanity because they can’t work the drill.”

“Of course,” Darius agrees. He needs to find a logical argument. “But it could be dangerous. What would Jillian think?”

Liam looks away. “We broke up,” he says. Then looks up at Darius, trying to gauge a reaction. “I broke up with her.” 

Darius swallows. He doesn’t know what to make of this news. The way Liam is looking at him. This hero crusade. “Is that why you’re volunteering? If this is a wreckless whim,” Darius says, not sure how to finish the sentence but Liam stops him with an eye roll. 

“No that’s not why. I told you why and I know you agree.” Liam sounds annoyed.

Darius chews his lip, nervously. But something calms in Liam’s face, almost pitying, but that can’t be right. Resigned, maybe. 

“Darius, I’ll be okay. I promise I’ll come back in one piece.”

It does nothing to set Darius at ease, but he pretends. He doesn’t know what else to do and Harris is calling Liam over. To get fitted for his gear. 

Darius nods. “You better.” He smiles weakly and lets Liam go. He swallows the rising nausea. 

Once he’s seen them off, he heads back to the Treehouse. It’ll be several hours until the team lands and Darius knows he needs sleep. He sees his bed, sheets rumpled and suddenly remembers he hasn’t had anyone in to turn over the bed since Liam had slept there. His chest clenches tightly at the sight, and he coughs and takes a deep breath. The couch it is. 

As soon as he tries to rest, he can’t help but think of Liam in the plane. Eyes squeezed shut, teeth clenched, no hand to hold. Darius still feels like he shouldn’t have let Liam go but he had no choice in the end. He could only give them as much of his own tech as possible to assist with the mission. Thankfully Darius falls asleep, exhaustion being merciful with him, so he can stop thinking so much. 

Darius awakes to Tess telling him that Grace is here to see him. He gets up, a little dazed and confused, telling Tess to let her in, and quickly checking himself over. He goes to his console and sees he slept far longer than he thought was even possible. Almost the whole flight time. 

“Hey, did you forget you invited me here to watch the mission?” grace asks, teasingly. 

“No, of course not,” he smiles lightly. Sleeping was nice and let him forget about the mission and Liam, for a time. But now his nerves made his stomach turn. Grace is giving him an odd look, her head tilted slightly, like she’s studying him. “Just dozed off a little.”

“Right,” she says. 

Darius gets to work right away in bringing the cameras up on his multiple screen display and he and Grace watch with intense silence. 

The mission is going well, and Darius’ knuckles are white from clenching his fists so hard. He’s about to take a shaky deep breath of relief when all hell breaks loose. 

Grace reaches her hand to him quickly, grabbing his arm tightly. Darius can’t move, can’t do anything, the video feeds are gone and he doesn’t know where Liam is. Grace is asking him questions, worry evident in her tone but he can’t hear the words, can’t take them in. Panic rises inside him and he feels frozen until anger takes hold.

“God dammit!” He yells, swiping a bunch of papers off a nearby table. 

“Darius, calm down. It’ll be ok. Harris won’t let anything happen to Liam.” 

“You don’t know that,” he says, trying to take breaths but his chest feels tight. 

“I do,” Grace says evenly. “Liam will be okay.” 

Darius finally calms down enough to notice it’s odd that she keeps saying Liam’s name. He looks at her with his eyebrows knit together, trying to figure out a way to tell her he’s worried for everyone’s safety, not just Liam’s. He needs this mission to go well to save the world, they should all be invested in the team making it out alive. But then the camera feeds come back up and Harris is saying they’re all okay and Darius almost falls to the ground.

“Liam, are you there? Can you hear me?” He asks into the mic.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Liam replies after a couple too seconds too long for Darius’ liking. Liam’s voice is shaky but he’s okay. “I’m fine, Darius.”

Darius closes his eyes, focusing on breathing steadily. “Okay,” he says more calmly now. “Have a... safe flight.”

Liam doesn’t reply and he doesn’t really need to. It’s enough that he’s alive and Darius is already planning the speech to give him. To tell him he can’t do anything like that ever again. It’s too dangerous and the mission depends on Liam too much. Yes, the mission does.

Grace has been talking to Harris and is finally finished, and walks over to Darius. She puts a gentle hand on his back. “What did I tell you?” She says with a smile.

“Yes, I’m glad the team is safe,” Darius says, trying to regain some composure. Grace has seen a few too many cracks in the exterior he likes to project and its making him a little uncomfortable to have her watching him so closely; seeing him. 

“I can see you care about him a lot,” Grace says softly.

“Who?” Darius asks, and yeah he’s not willing to have this conversation right now.

Grace rolls her eyes. “You know I’m talking about Liam. Don’t think for a second I believe you were worried about the whole team.”

“Well Liam is imperative to the mission. Without him or his brain, earth will be doomed,” Darius says reasonably. He doesn’t know why he’s even entertaining her with this. He should ask her to leave, he hasn’t eaten in a while and his stomach is starting to growl in hunger since his nerves have worn off. 

“That’s true,” Grace nods, though she looks like she’s going over comebacks in her head. “But when all that was going down, I was worried about Harris the most. And I care about saving the world too.”

Darius wants to tell her she should perhaps check her priorities. But the words seem too harsh especially because he knows he’s lying to her. But more importantly he’s lying to himself. He doesn’t want to be selfish, he can’t let feelings get in the way of what’s in front of them. If he’s being truly honest, he brought Jillian here for Liam so Darius had an excuse to stay away. That plan just didn’t work out too well. 

“It’s okay, you know,” Grace adds since Darius hasn’t offered any further excuses. “To care about him.”

“It’s selfish,” Darius says so quietly that he’s not sure if Grace heard, or if he even said it aloud at all.

“Sometimes you’re allowed to be selfish,” Grace says. “And sometimes it’s not so selfish if the other person feels the same way.”

“I need to stay focused on the mission.”

“You can have both,” Grace offers. Darius resents her making so much sense. He’s gone over the argument in his head so many times. It’s upsetting she can unravel his logic so quickly. 

Darius just nods once, signalling that her words have been taken into consideration but that he really needs some time to himself.

“I’m gonna go get some sleep. You should eat something, you’re still looking quite sickly.” She leaves with a smile.

Darius goes back to his computer, the videos feeds are all dead, but life sign signals tell him the team is back on the plane, already in the air. His phone buzzes, and he expects a news alert or something but it’s a text. And it’s from Liam. He and Liam don’t text, Darius hardly ever texts at all. He opens the message and it reads “Wish you were here”. Darius can’t help but let out a small laugh. 

“Hopefully the plane ride hasn’t been too terrible,” Darius writes back, because he can’t bring himself to write “me too”.

“Oh it has been. Holding my own hand pretending it’s yours just doesn’t have the same effect.”

Darius feels his face go a little red. Liam would probably be immensely entertained that he could embarrass Darius so easily. There’s a reason he doesn’t text, and it’s that he’s pretty terrible at it. 

“Get some rest. I’ll see you soon,” he replies and Liam doesn’t write back. 

It’s a long couple of hours until the plane is landing. Darius has been antsy for the majority of it, luckily managing to eat some food and keep it down. 

He and Grace regroup at the bunker and wait for the team to land. Harris gets out of the plane first, immediately hugging Grace. Liam comes out somewhere towards the end and Darius swears it’s on purpose. Liam looks a little hesitant as he approaches Darius.

Darius walks the rest of the way toward him and pulls him in for a hug, holding him tightly.

“Don’t ever do that to me again.”

“Do what?”

“Put yourself in danger!” Darius says because it’s obvious. “Having your life in peril twice in one week is probably shaving weeks off my life.”

“Sorry,” Liam says shyly. 

“What’s wrong?” Darius asks because something about Liam is just off.

“I’m... I’m really sorry about the texts. If they were in appropriate. I just thought —“ Liam starts to say quickly, colour rising in his cheeks. 

“Stop,” Darius cuts him off with a laugh. “It was fine, I just,” Darius doesn’t know how to continue. He looks around. “Can I kiss you?”

Liam looks shocked by the question but he nods anyway. Darius puts a hand on Liam’s neck and brings their lips together softly. It’s so gentle at first, hesitant on both their parts, but when Liam starts to kiss back, weaving his hand into Darius’s hair, it’s electric. 

Darius pulls back first, Liam’s mouth chasing after his lips. Darius rubs his thumb along Liam’s jaw. He suddenly remembers where they are, in the bunker, military personnel walking around ignoring them. Grace is giving Darius a big grin and Harris is looking between Darius and Liam and Grace looking confused but also not that surprised. 

Darius nods at Grace, mouthing the words ‘thank you’.

“What was that about?” Liam says, looking from Grace back over to Darius.

“She just gave a little push that I needed,” Darius says, trying to stay a little vague. 

Of course Liam is too smart for that. “Oh I thought throwing myself in more danger would have given you that push,” he says nonchalantly and Darius’ jaw drops.

“Pleas tell me that is not why you volunteered,” Darius replies, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“I mean, not the main reason,” Liam says. “Just a nice side effect. Since worrying about me is the only thing that gets you to show you care about me.” Liam shrugs and Darius knows Liam is mostly teasing him. But closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

“How about,” Darius says. “I’ll find some other ways to show you my... affection,” he watches Liam, whose cheeks have turned bright red. “And you can stop throwing yourself into danger. Deal?”

Liam nods quickly. “Deal,” he says, eyes focused on Darius’s mouth. Darius smiles, then gives Liam one more quick kiss. “How about we go back to the Treehouse and order food and celebrate the little victory of getting enough dust from a space rock to possibly save the earth?”

“Sounds good to me,” Liam says with a smile. Darius puts a protective arm around Liam and walks him back to his car. And if Darius finds it hard to let go of Liam in the car, and especially difficult to stop himself from placing several kisses on his hands and head and lips, well the driver graciously pretends not to notice.


End file.
